1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a wheel rim having a rim base made of fiber composite material and a wheel disk, wherein the wheel disk is connected to a radial marginal area with the rim base.
The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing a wheel rim.
2. Discussion of Background Information
Wheel rims, in particular in the automotive sector, are made at least partially of fiber composite material due to lightweight requirements. Wheel rim components, such as the rim base and wheel disk, are prefabricated in separate parts from different materials according to specific requirements and then assembled together. This way the separate parts are joined together at specially formed joint zones, wherein the joint must withstand considerable loads.
Connections of the rim bed made of fiber composite material with a wheel disk are known from printed publication DE 10 2010 010 512 A1, in which the joints are advantageously formed by interlocking undercuts of the rim base contour with the contour of the radial marginal area of the wheel disk. In the method known from the above-mentioned printed publication for manufacturing the component from partially fiber composite material, a preform of the rim base made of fibrous material is connected with the wheel disk prior to consolidation.
The marginal areas of the wheel disk specially formed for the connection are partly expensive to manufacture or must be draped with significant cost prior to the fiber deposition process to prefabricate the preform of the rim base in order to be laid to the mold.
Furthermore, it has been often found that additional expenditure is required to the previously known undercut connections of rim base and wheel disk in order to achieve a sufficient adhesive bond of the rim base with the wheel disk during the subsequent consolidation of the preform of the wheel rim.
It is therefore the objective of the invention to improve the connection between the rim base and the wheel disk at a wheel rim of the aforementioned type and to provide a method for manufacturing a wheel rim with an improved connection between the rim base and wheel disk.